Senior Henry Born was pulled from his second hour and into the hallway by Athletic Director Angelo Giacalone. They walked to the Cougar painting in the Hall of Fame in front of the Main Gym, where Born saw senior Paige Mullen waiting.

Right before their picture was taken, Giacolone told them they had been named Students Athletes of the Month.  

“There’s great athletes here and to be chosen as the athlete of the month is a very big honor,” Born said.

Born had expected to win the award after his performance this season.

“Paige and I had just finished the state meet the week before and we both had really good performances,” Born said. “We both placed in the top five, so I figured they would choose us as the next student athletes.”

Born says all the hot, early morning runs this summer were key to his success this season.

“I worked very hard this summer to become a better runner,” Born said. “I think my hard work has paid off.”

Born has been running since he was in seventh grade. He was inspired by his older sister, Molly. After seeing her success, Born thought he’d give running a try. 

“Molly is so hardworking and so dedicated to running, it’s hard not to be inspired by her,” Born said. 

Born said  his seventh grade self would be amazed at his progress as a runner.

“I think  one of my goals for high school was just to be on varsity,” Born said. “To be picked as athlete of the month out of the whole school would have been a dream.”

Despite his accomplishments, Born still thinks there were things he could’ve done better.

“I put a lot of blame on myself for the cross country team as a whole,” Born said. “We’re still a very good team, but I feel like I could have done more as a leader to get them to work harder and have more fun so they performed better.”

Born’s teammates are his support system.

“They really helped me with the pressure I put on myself,” Born said. “I get to run with them and I’m talking to them for at least an hour every single day.”